This invention relates in general to communication with wireless devices, and relates in particular to alerting the user of a wireless device when the user is within predetermined range of a particular destination.
Convenience is an ever increasing factor in the lives of many persons. People running errands or commuting have little time or patience to deal with unnecessary tasks. Much time spent on errands often is wasted waiting in line, for example, to give a drycleaner or other business establishment a claim ticket and then wait while the appropriate product is retrieved, or to place a to-go order at a restaurant and then wait while the order is prepared. Although the amount of delay encountered for each such task may seem small in itself, the cumulative amount of those times may loom large and irritate those who are running on a tight schedule.
With the popularity and general acceptance of cellular phones and other wireless communication devices, a person possibly could call or send a text message alerting his or her impending arrival to an intended destination. That possibility becomes more difficult in actual practice, as it requires the user in advance to add telephone numbers or e-mail addresses of vendors or other destinations visited by that user. The user then would need to remember to alert each intended destination, preferably with sufficient advance notice for someone at each destination to retrieve an order or otherwise prepared for the arrival of that customer. Even if that person timely remembered to notify vendors of an impending arrival, using a cell phone or other wireless device to place those notices, including searching for the phone number or other electronic address of each intended destination while driving, may detract that person's attention from driving and thus may present a hazard. In that regard, some jurisdictions are restricting the use of cell phones or other handheld devices by vehicle operators, making it problematic at best for a person to provide advance notice by placing a cell while en route to pick-up or place an order.